COVID-19 Outbreak: Weekly Global Report for Friday, October 2, 2020
AdvaMed recognizes that its members, particularly those with global government affairs responsibilities, are tracking COVID-19 related developments around the world to assess the public health and economic impacts on their businesses. Knowing that companies are consuming information from a variety of sources, AdvaMed's global team would like to provide members with a weekly snapshot of the key statistics, policy developments and advocacy initiatives underway in our priority markets. If you have any suggestions, we welcome your feedback.
Global
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics- global cases reached 34.1 million, a 2.1 million increase over the previous week. Deaths around the world passed the 1 million mark. The countries with the most reported cases continue to be the U.S. (7.3 million), India (6.3 million), and Brazil (4.8 million).
- U.S. cases exceeded 7.3 million with deaths increasing to 208,000.
- Staff Contact: Ralph Ives (rives@advamed.org).
China
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics –China’s total COVID cases now stand at 90,555 (an increase of 139 over the previous week) and deaths at 4,739 (an increase of 1 over the previous week).Almost all new cases have been linked to foreign arrivals.
- The Chinese government appears convinced that imported frozen food can carry the virus. This week, the Beijing city government urged companies to halt imports of frozen food from countries that have been severely hit by the pandemic.
- China is currently in the middle of its “Golden Week” holiday (Oct 1-8) to celebrate the anniversary of the PRC’s founding and the mid-Autumn festival. The next few days will be an important test of consumer confidence with consumer spending and domestic tourism expected to shoot up.
- Various indicators suggest September was a good month for China’s economy. Manufacturing output is on par with pre-COVID levels and exports remain resilient compared to earlier this year.
- Anecdotal evidence suggests that hospitals have been gradually resuming elective/regular surgeries and operations appear to be at 80-90% of pre-COVID levels, with this range varying by particular medical condition of the patient and geographical area.
- U.S.-China relations remain strained, with the Commerce Dept recently issuing new export controls against one of China’s largest chip manufacturers, SMIC. The Phase One trade deal remains intact and has emerged as a key area of cooperation. China continues to make record buys of U.S. farm products, most notable soybeans and corn.
- Staff Contact: Kyle Churchman (kchurchman@advamed.org)
India
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics – 6,310,267 total cases, 940,705 active cases/98,678 deaths as compared to 5,730,184 total cases, 966,382 active cases/91,149 deaths last week. India became the second country after the US to register 6 million COVID-19 cases on Sunday, amid signs that the pandemic could finally be slowing down in the country, at least for now.
- The Serum Institute of India said on Tuesday, September 29 that it would get a further $150 million in funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the GAVI vaccines alliance to make an additional 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for India and other low- and middle-income countries next year.
- As per the latest report shared by MoHFW on Tuesday, September 29, India has seen a close to 100 percent increase in COVID-19 recoveries in the last month.
- The CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has launched a study in the hospital environment to assess how long and far the coronavirus can stay in air from an infected person, in a bid to strengthen the safety of health workers.
- The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) of India capped the price of Liquid Medical Oxygen and Medical Oxygen cylinders. The pandemic has created increased demand for Medical Oxygen (MO) in the country limiting its availability. The Authority deliberated upon the matter in its extra ordinary meeting held on 25.09.2020 and it was decided to invoke extra-ordinary powers in public interest, under Para 19 of DPCO, 13 and under Section 10(20) (l) of Disaster Management Act, 2005.
- A start-up incubated at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Equine Biotech, has developed an indigenous RT-PCR diagnostic kit for accurate and affordable diagnosis of Covid-19. "The biggest advantage of Equine Biotech's 'Global TM diagnostic kit' is that it takes just around one-and-half hours to confirm the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in samples," an IISc release said.
- In research conducted at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), ICMR scientists have flagged the presence of another Chinese virus called 'Cat Que Virus', which has a "potential" to cause disease in India, even as it grapples with the COVID pandemic.
- Government purchases of COVID-related goods over Amazon. (i.e. GeM) increased 48.9 per cent in terms of order value from Rs 345.3 crore in March 2020 after the pandemic broke out to Rs 514.4 crore as on September 28, 2020.
- Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Saturday, September 26 said that over 5 lakh personal protective equipment per day are being produced by the 110 PPE manufacturers in the country. "Now we have 110 PPE manufacturers in India, producing over 5 lakh per day.
- The Government may review inclusion of tocilizumab in its treatment protocol for Covid-19 once again due to difference of opinion within the Indian Council of Medical Research’s national task force on the pandemic.
- The Indian government will review efficacy data from all companies working on vaccines before offering a purchase contract, said an official aware of vaccine distribution discussions on September 28. The government will purchase vaccines at least for essential workers, the official said.
- Staff Contact: Abby Pratt (apratt@advamed.org).
Korea
- South Korea’s numbers were down early this week, but are now back in triple digits, with 113. Late report for Friday indicates this number may be lessening to be below 100. This remains low compared to many other countries. South Korea ranks 78th in the world in both cases and deaths.
- There are 23,389 total cases, 1,808 active cases, and 415 deaths. Korea is reporting 6 deaths per day but preliminary numbers indicate this is declining.
- Korea is celebrating a holiday this week, so news items are less than usual.
- President Moon Jae-in assured the South Korean people Wednesday that his government will succeed in the fight against COVID-19 and safeguard the economy from the fallout of the pandemic.
- Korea plans to boost its support for developing countries as part of Seoul's contribution to the international fight against COVID-19. "The government will expand humanitarian support and official development assistance (ODA) efforts regarding COVID-19 prevention in developing countries," Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said in his pre-recorded speech to the virtual meeting of the United Nations' Initiative on Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond.
- The number of recipients of unemployment benefits in South Korea saw the sharpest increase among people in their 20s this year. According to the Korea Employment Information Service, the number of recipients came to 711,471 in August, up 56.4 percent from 454,630 in December 2019. The first case of the novel coronavirus in Korea was reported in January 2020.
- Some conservative groups are backtracking on their plans to hold mass anti-government rallies in central Seoul on Oct. 3, in the face of coronavirus concerns. Former Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Moon-soo and other conservative figures announced that they were calling off the protests scheduled to take place in Gwanghwamun on National Foundation Day and asked other right-wing groups to follow their lead. Instead of street protests, they will hold a car parade of about 200 vehicles.
- The National Assembly of South Korea has selected the chiefs of Google and Netflix’s Korean operations as witnesses at the upcoming audits scheduled for October to ask questions about their business practices. According to the country’s legislative body Thursday, Nancy Mable Walker, who represents Google Korea, will be asked to testify at the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee’s first audit on Oct. 7.
- South Korea maintains its 2-week quarantine for all other incoming international travelers and a requirement for all inbound flights to check passengers' temperatures. Anyone with a temperature over 37.5 degrees Celsius (99.5 Fahrenheit) is denied entry. Korea has not issued any guidance on an exemption that is supposedly available. Korea has indicated all US inbound travelers will be tested for symptoms prior to being moved to quarantine.
- Korea appears to be moving toward implementation of a proposal that would potentially reduce the price of certain cardiac and peripheral stents. AdvaMed is in touch with members and the medtech association in Korea and has had several discussions with the US Government on this topic. We have sent a letter to the health ministry expressing opposition to the proposal. Please contact Joseph Gatewood (jgatewood@advamed.org) if you have an interest in this matter and are not already engaged.
- Resources: http://ncov.mohw.go.kr/en/.
- Staff Contact: Joseph Gatewood (jgatewood@advamed.org).
Europe
There is continued and more aggressive spiking in the case rates across the EU including Central and Western Europe. In Western Europe, cases are spiking worst in the UK and France. Spain and France are showing the highest numbers of new cases, both with significant spikes, with the UK increasing but not spiking as much. Italy seems to be holding well with fewer new cases than even Germany. However, the Italian Senate was suspended after a number of lawmakers tested positive. Spain leads the EU in cases and the UK leads the EU in deaths, followed by Italy and France. Although not in the EU, Russia's reported numbers on COVID are problematic. Russia remains the COVID hot spot in Europe, now reporting 1,185,231 cases, with just 20,891 reported deaths. By comparison, Italy, with much fewer (317,409) cases, reports 35,918 deaths. |
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